Displaced Spirits
by sailorwind
Summary: My fantasy season 7 opener. Learning of her son's death, a distraught Piper summons him, drawing his spirit back into his body and displacing the baby's. Will they be able to get the baby back? And why aren't Chris's powers working?
1. A Mother's Grief

_Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, but if Kern wants to sell it, I'll give him a shiny penny!_

**Author's note: This takes place a couple days after the season finale. This plot has come out of my sincere desire to get big Chris back and not be subjected to double the baby hi-jinx this coming season. Please be nice! This is my first fanfic ever and the first piece of fiction I've written in a number of years.**

**Chapter 1**

"Hurry up with those streamers, Paige, they're going to be back any minute!" Phoebe fussed as she knelt down to straighten Wyatt's overalls. "And remember, not a word about Chris. She's got enough on her plate right now, with the new baby and recovering from her C-section."

"Hey! I can keep my mouth shut. But don't you think she's going to find out sooner or later? It was easy enough to keep it from her at the hospital, but I don't think that's going to work for very long here."

Phoebe sighed. "I know, hon. She's going to find out. Soon. But Leo wants to be the one to tell her. He needs to be the one to tell her. And we've got to let him do that in his own time."

Just then the door opened, saving them from having the same depressing conversation for what felt like the millionth time. The girls quickly plastered smiles on their faces. "Welcome home, Piper and Chris!" They chimed as they ran over to hug their sister and coo over their new nephew. Well, new in a sense.

* * *

"That was a great meal, you guys! I was a little worried when Leo told me you were cooking a welcome home dinner for me, but it looks as though you've taken some classes in my absence. It was all more than edible!" Piper said, smiling.

"Well, you were at the magic school for quite a while. If we hadn't learned how to cook a halfway decent meal, we would have starved!" Paige joked, relieved that her sister hadn't been too critical of her less developed cooking skills.

Piper laughed and stood up, grabbing a few plates. "Hey, Missy!" Phoebe scolded. "You sit your butt back down in that chair! You just got back from the hospital, no way you're clearing the dishes."

"Well, if you insist." Piper grinned. "Actually, I'm feeling a bit wiped. I think I'm going to head off to bed. Thanks so much for the welcome home party, though! I really loved it."

"I'll put the boys down." Leo said. He stood up, picked up the newborn Chris, took Wyatt by the hand, and orbed upstairs to the boys' bedroom. Piper watched them go with a sentimental smile. "There go all the men in my life." she sighed as she headed up the stairs.

Piper had just settled herself under the covers when Leo came in and smiled at her. I felt just like old times. "Hey cutie." she said, obviously having the same thought. "Why don't you hop on in and cuddle with me?"

Leo glanced down at the bed with an extremely nervous look on his face. He tried to make himself crawl under the covers, but he just couldn't. Memories of Chris lying in that very spot and fading away in his arms came flooding back, making him almost lose his balance. He felt like all the breath had been knocked out of him.

Piper got a worried look on her face and sat up. "What is it, honey? Are you ok?"

Leo walked over to the other side of the bed and knelt on the floor, taking Piper's hands. "There's something I need to tell you. I wanted to wait until you were fully recovered from your surgery, but… I just can't do this anymore."

Leo paused and avoided Piper's face as he tried to form the words. "Piper, Chris didn't go back to the future." He finally said, looking up into her eyes.

"B-but you said..." "I know. We let you believe that because we didn't think you were ready to hear the truth yet. You had been through so much already. Piper... Chris is dead. Gideon killed him. He- he died right here in this bed. In my arms." Leo's voice had dropped to a whisper as he tried to fight back the tears.

"He was trying to protect Wyatt. Gideon stabbed him with a blessed athame. I couldn't save him." Leo dropped Piper's hands and turned his back to her as the tears streamed down his face. "I'm an elder, with all this power, and I couldn't even save my own son."

Piper was in shock. Her mouth kept opening and closing, but no sound came out. This wasn't real. He couldn't be serious. Finally she said, "Maybe he's not... Maybe he did just go back. He saved Wyatt, maybe the spell just played itself out." She said, looking to Leo to validate her reasoning.

Leo sadly shook his head. "I'm sorry, honey. The spell couldn't have played itself out, Gideon and Barbus still had Wyatt when Chris died. He's... gone."

Piper felt the tears already streaming down her face as her head dropped into her hands. Her body was racked with sobs. She felt Leo's arms encircle her. They were shaking as he cried himself. She found it comforting, but it didn't do anything to fill the hole that had just been torn in her heart.

* * *

Piper opened her eyes when Leo's steady breathing told her he was finally asleep in the chair. As much as he'd wanted to hold her, he hadn't been able to get himself to lie in that spot, and she couldn't blame him. She was having a hard time staying in the bed herself, and she hadn't been there to witness Chris's death.

Piper got out of the bed and tiptoed out of the room, shutting the door behind her as quietly as she could with her shaking hands. This whole thing wasn't right. Chris couldn't be dead. He'd already sacrificed so much to save his brother, had it really been necessary for him to sacrifice his life too? But as much as she tried to deny it, she knew in her heart it was true. It was meant to be. Chris had known that, even if the rest of them hadn't.

Before she had pretended to go to sleep, she'd asked Leo what had happened to Chris's spirit. Had it gone up to where Grams and Prue were? Leo had admitted he didn't know. Chris's had been an extremely unique situation, and the other elders either didn't know or wouldn't tell him what had become of his son's spirit. Sometimes the pacifist in her husband made him accept things way too easily. Piper simply could not settle for that explanation.

Piper walked silently up the steps to the attic and closed the door behind her, opening the book with a trembling hand. She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. This had to work, she told herself. It hadn't with Prue, but that had been because she had been unable to accept her death. With Chris she just needed to know he was in a better place, a place where he could finally find peace. She knew she would never be able to get on with her life without knowing that for sure.

Piper set down the last candle and recited from memory:

_Hear these words, hear my cry,_

_Spirit from the other side.___

_Come to me, I summon thee,_

_Cross now the great divide_

She held her breath and waited on edge as she felt the familiar gust of wind. A swirl of white dust started to coalesce in front of her and then dissipated. Piper choked back a sob when all of a sudden she heard a loud crash from downstairs followed by a yell. "Wyatt!" she thought as she ran down the stairs into the boys' room.

Piper stopped dead in her tracks at the door, her eyes wide and her mouth ajar. She felt Leo crash into her back with the same reaction. Phoebe and Paige were not far behind. "What in the world...?" Phoebe started to say, they all stared, unbelieving, at what was before them.


	2. The Big Chris Swap

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Charmed. Something about Kern wanting more money than that…_

**Chapter 2**

Everyone stared in amazement at the fully grown, and fully naked, Chris standing in front of them amidst the debris that used to be a crib and baby clothes, looking very confused.

"What…?"Chris stuttered, and then glanced down. Noticing his current state, he crouched, turning bright red, and looked around frantically. Noticing an extra baby blanket on the dresser, he quickly waved his fingers at it. When it didn't move, he glared at his fingers and tried again. Giving up, he ran over to the dresser and grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around him. "What the hell is going on?" he shouted.

Leo finally found his voice and asked, "Chris, how did you get here? I thought… I mean, I saw you…" He couldn't finish. He felt his stomach turn to ice. Had he been wrong? What if his son hadn't been dead, but trapped somewhere and he'd done nothing to help him?

Chris screwed up his face. "The last thing I remember, I was on the bed and I was sure I was dying. Everything went dark, and then I felt myself being pulled. I thought I caught a glimpse of the attic and Mom, and then all of a sudden I was here. What happened? And why am I naked?" By the end of his speech, Chris was obviously panicking.

Phoebe could see that emotions were running high, and was silently thankful she couldn't feel them. "Everybody relax. There's got to be some sort of explanation for all of this." She said.

Just then Piper shouted "Where's the baby?!" She ran over to where the crib had previously stood and frantically started digging through the debris.

Realization crept into Leo's eyes. "Piper…" he said tentatively. "When the crash woke me up, you weren't in the room. What were you doing?"

Piper looked up guiltily. "You couldn't tell me what happened to him, where he was. I couldn't accept that, I just couldn't! I-I had to make sure he was safe. But, it didn't work." She looked completely defeated and her sisters had to turn away, unable to look at the pain on her face as they realized Leo had told her the truth much sooner than they had anticipated.

"You summoned his spirit, didn't you?" Leo asked quietly. The look on Piper's face was confirmation enough. "No! Piper! Don't you think I thought of that? But little Chris had already been born. A spirit summoned to our plane will automatically be drawn to their body if the body is alive." He was exasperated and upset with himself for not realizing his wife would try this.

Piper looked at him in horror. "You mean, in trying to contact Chris, I… What did I do? Is the baby just gone?" When Leo didn't answer, she whispered, "Forever?" A tear trickled down her face as the implications of what she had just done struck her.

"I don't know." Leo said quietly.

The whole group jumped, startled, as a strangled whisper came from the corner of the room. "I'm a spirit? I'm dead?"

Piper's eyes melted as she ran over and engulfed her son in her arms. "Oh, Chris, I'm so sorry! I thought you knew. I'm so glad to see you though! You're safe."

Chris just stood there, frozen as a statue in his mother's arms. He wanted to sink into her embrace, but he didn't seem to be able to move. "This is wrong." He whispered. "I shouldn't be here. Dad, please! Fix this!" He stared pleadingly at Leo, and then suddenly collapsed into tears. "What was the point?" He sobbed. "All this for a better future, and of course I go and mess it up!"

Everyone stared at him in shock. They'd never seen him so upset and didn't know how to react. They were used to Chris bottling everything up and turning it into anger. This was something new, and they were unprepared.

Leo helped his son up from the floor with a supporting arm. "Chris, it's going to be ok. Don't worry, I promise we'll fix everything. But right now, I think what we all need is some sleep. We'll deal with this problem tomorrow. Come on, let's get you some clothes and then we'll set you up on the couch." Chris looked up at his father gratefully and silently let himself be led downstairs.

As Piper started to walk out of the room, she realized they hadn't heard a peep from Wyatt. Had he slept through the whole thing? She glanced over at his crib and saw him standing up, watching the whole scene with an extremely disconcerting emotionless stare. Piper suppressed an involuntary shiver and walked over to her son.

"I'm sorry we were so loud and woke you up, baby. You go back to sleep now and I'll see you in the morning." She tucked Wyatt in and kissed his head. The child continued to stare at her in the same manner. Piper quickly turned off the light and shut the door behind her.


	3. The Morning After

_Disclaimer: Do I really have to put one of these up before every chapter? If anyone seriously thinks I own Charmed, I have a nice, one could even say golden, bridge in California I'd be willing to sell them for $20._

**Authors note: Thanks for all the reviews, guys! It's really a thrill to get them. There is one thing I'd like to address, though. I've gotten a lot of reviews asking me what's wrong with Wyatt. There is nothing wrong with Wyatt that hasn't been wrong with him all season. He's the same adorable dead eyed psychopath he has been since he stopped expressing emotion somewhere around "My Three Witches." I was just sick of the sisters never noticing. Sorry for the scare!**

**Chapter 3**

Chris awoke to a comforting hand smoothing his hair. He smiled and opened his eyes. "Hi, Mom." He said groggily. "_She hasn't done that in years_." He thought to himself.

Piper looked down at him tenderly. She couldn't believe he was actually here. She rested her hand on his cheek, relying on the physical contact to prove it wasn't a dream. "Morning, Sweetie. Did you sleep well?" Chris nodded. "How about I go make you some breakfast? French toast sound good?"

"With cinnamon?" Chris asked. He couldn't remember the last time Piper had made him that dish for breakfast.

Piper laughed. "Of course! Is there any other kind? You take your time; I'll call you when it's ready." With a last glance over her shoulder, she walked into the kitchen. Chris could hear the pots and pans shifting around as she searched for the right one.

He quickly got dressed and started to head into the kitchen when he heard someone come down the stairs. He turned and saw Paige standing in the doorway, an odd look on her face. "Morning, Paige!" he said. She didn't react, just continued to stare.

He shrugged and started to turn when all of a sudden Paige jumped towards him and threw her arms around his neck, embracing him extremely tightly as she started to cry. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She kept saying as she buried her face in his shoulder.

Chris was stunned. He most certainly hadn't been expecting that reaction and he didn't know what to do. Comforting people had never been something he'd been particularly adept at. Slowly, he put his arms around her and tentatively started smoothing her hair. "It's alright, Paige. It's alright." He said. "Everything's ok."

Paige pulled away and tried to recompose herself. "I'm sorry. It's just that… last time I saw you… and I couldn't… I'm just so relieved you're ok." She finished, and exhaled deeply.

Chris smiled awkwardly at her and said, "You know, Piper's making some breakfast. Let's go eat."

Chris's mouth watered as he walked into the kitchen and smelled the cinnamon wafting towards him. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. How long had it been since he'd last eaten, anyway? Piper brought the food over and they all sat down. Just then the baby monitor kicked in and they heard Wyatt calling for his mommy.

"Guess Wyatt's up." Piper said. "I bet he's hungry." And she started to stand up. Chris stopped her.

"I'll go get him." He said as he started to dissolve into a cloud of blue orbs. Chris fell back down into his chair, looking very confused. He felt like he'd hit a brick wall head on mid orb. "What the heck is going on?" he exclaimed. "First my TK and now my orbing?"

Piper and Paige exchanged a concerned look. "It must be some kind of side effect." Paige said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm sure it'll wear off soon." Both Chris and Piper looked away guiltily when she said that. Paige stood up. "_I'll_ go get Wyatt." She said as she orbed away.

For a long moment they stayed silent, both mother and son obviously wanting to say something but unable to phrase it. Chris looked up at Piper. "Mom, I'm- I'm sorry… about the baby."

Piper looked surprised. "Oh Chris, you don't have anything to be sorry about."

"Yes I do. It's my fault he's gone."

"NO!" Piper shouted severely, and Chris startled. "You will not blame yourself for this. It's not your fault; it had nothing to do with you. This was my screw up. I acted without thinking. You'd think when it comes to magic I'd have learned not to do that by now. But don't worry; we're going to work this out. I promise." Her voice softened at the end, taking the edge off her outburst.

Chris nodded, slightly mollified. "So," he said as casually as he could while he glanced around. "Where's Dad?" He was overcome with that familiar sinking feeling that Leo had forgotten about him again. He tried to tell himself that wasn't true.

Piper sensed her son's agitation and put a hand on his arm. "Leo stayed with you all night. I came down this morning and found him sitting next to the sofa watching you. I don't think he closed his eyes the whole night. I think he was afraid you were going to disappear again… I told him I would sit with you, he needed to go up there and talk with the Elders. Hopefully they know what's going on. I'm sure he'll be back soon" Chris looked relieved. Having apparently been sufficiently comforted, he hungrily started in on his breakfast.

"Maybe you want to breathe in between bites? I hear it helps with the not choking." He heard Paige tease from behind him. She settled Wyatt in his high chair as Phoebe walked in.

"There's my little nephew!" Phoebe cried as she ran over and started hugging Chris who'd had his fork halfway to his mouth.

"Uh, good morning to you too, Phoebe. Do you, uh, mind if I finish eating now?" He said a bit irritated, trying to keep the syrup from dripping off his fork onto Piper's table cloth. He loved his aunt and knew she meant well, but sometimes she got overexcited and it could get annoying.

"Oh yeah. Sorry." She grinned as she started to pinch his cheek. "Ooh, they grow up so fast!" she bubbled and headed over towards the coffee pot. Piper opened her mouth to start scolding her sister about embarrassing Chris, but thankfully Leo chose that moment to orb into the kitchen.


	4. Possessed

_Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Charmed. Can't say I'm extremely upset about that though. Can't say I'd really want to be known for owning this piece of… well, you can fill in that blank._

**Chapter 4**

Chris jumped up expectantly as Leo orbed in. Leo had been unprepared to come face to face with Chris so immediately and quickly tried to school his expression, but the damage had been done. "It's bad, isn't it?" Chris asked as he unceremoniously fell back into his chair. He started moving what was left of his French toast around with his fork and refused to meet Leo's eye.

"Well, it's complicated." Leo started, obviously trying to put a more positive spin on whatever it was he was about to tell them. "Chris's situation is unique, and…"

Piper cut him off. "Yes, Leo, we're all well aware of that. Just spit it out already! How bad is it? What have I done to our son's spirit?" Her voice was filled with impatience, but her eyes told Leo that she really didn't want to know because she could tell it wasn't going to be good. Leo took her by the shoulders and slowly guided her into a chair. Visibly comforted by his touch, she sat down and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Ok." She said. "I'm ready."

"The Elders are extremely unhappy with us, and they didn't want to tell me anything. It took no small amount of persuasion, and I'm sure they didn't tell me everything. They said that for a situation like this, in theory, both spirits will exist simultaneously in the same body; however the body will be formed and controlled by the dominating spirit until one can be removed and that's why he has his adult body. Kind of like Chris is possessed by himself. Obviously, the older Chris is the dominant of the two."

"So, all we need to do is find a way to separate the spirits and the baby's spirit will become dominant again? Are we supposed to perform an exorcism on our own nephew? What would happen to adult Chris's spirit?" Paige asked.

"Well, it should just go back to wherever it was before." Phoebe said. "It's your classic textbook possession."

Leo looked at them nervously, "There was a problem though. The Elders as a group should still be able to sense the baby's spirit in his body, but they can't." Leo didn't meet Piper's eye as he said this.

Everyone looked at him, shocked and confused. Chris just continued to stare miserably at his plate. He had guessed that would be the case. After all, if there was another spirit sharing his body, wouldn't he have been the first to know?

"What does that mean?" Piper said quietly. "They can't sense the baby in Chris's body? Where is he then?"

Leo looked at her, defeated. "That's just it. They can't sense him anywhere. They're not sure what that means. There's never been a case of a spirit possessing it's own past self. They think that either the two versions of Chris's spirit have merged, or when Chris's spirit came rushing in, it knocked the baby out and he's… gone."

"Gone?" Piper squeaked. She started shaking her head, first slowly and then more and more vigorously. "No, that's not true. You said they didn't know where Chris's spirit was after he died, yet it was obviously still somewhere. The baby's in the same place. We've just got to find him. I'll go do the spell again!" and she jumped up from the table.

Chris followed, saying hopefully, "I don't remember where I was after I died, it must have been some kind of in between, nowhere realm. No wonder it was off the radar. That's got to be where he is, or I am, you know what I mean."

Leo grabbed her arm. "Piper, I don't think that will work. I never said that the Elders didn't know where Chris was after he died. I said _if_ they knew, they weren't telling me." But she wasn't listening; her mind was already in the attic.

* * *

Piper relit the last candle, stood back, and said the familiar spell for the second time in the last 24 hours. They all held their breath as they watched and waited. Nothing happened. Chris's breath caught in his throat and he leaned against the doorframe for some support. This couldn't be happening. His past self couldn't be gone. "I erased myself." he whispered. He didn't think anyone had heard him.

Piper was quietly crying on the couch as Paige and Phoebe tried to comfort her. "Honey, it's ok." Phoebe was saying. "You didn't lose him, he's right here. Just try to look at this positively; you got to fast forward past diapers and the terrible twos!" Paige shot Phoebe a dirty look as Piper cried "But I wanted to watch him grow up this time. I wanted to make sure he had a happier life this time around."

Chris was listening to this whole exchange. He understood Piper's reaction; any mother would want their baby back. But he couldn't help feeling a little bit hurt that everyone seemed to want the baby to be there more than him. He shook his head. _"Snap out of it!"_ he said to himself_. "You've spent most of your life being envious of Wyatt, thinking he was more loved than you. Now you're jealous of yourself as a baby? Get a grip!" _He turned to leave and noticed Leo watching him. Unable to meet his fathers' eyes, he hurried downstairs.


	5. Temper, Temper

_Disclaimer: Who owns Charmed? I don't! I don't!_

**Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews so far, guys! It's a real confidence booster. Hope you enjoy the chapter; this was the one I enjoyed writing the most so far.**

**Chapter 5**

Chris was breathing heavily by the time he got down to the first floor. His eyes were flashing and his blood was boiling. He started to pace. He was confused and conflicted; the room felt like it was spinning. He just couldn't seem to put his head around everything, so he felt somewhat comforted when all the confusion melted into a hot anger. Anger was at least something he knew, he could cope with anger.

And boy was he angry! He was angry at the Elders because they were so full of themselves, they wouldn't deign to help the Haliwells out. He was angry at Piper for bringing him back and then rejecting him. He was angry at Leo for not keeping his promise to fix all this. But most of all, he was angry at himself. Everyone kept saying this wasn't his fault, but deep down he knew it was. It had to be. If it wasn't then, he wouldn't have been so happy this had happened.

He had wanted the baby to have a fresh start, to live a better life than he had, but he had never wanted to die. He still didn't want to die. There had been no after life for him. No Great-Grams welcoming him to the spirit realm. There had been nothing. He had just ceased to exist. He didn't want to go back to that.

Chris could feel the tears threatening to come, and that pissed him off even more. He refused to let himself cry. He spied one of Wyatt's toys lying on the ground and picked it up. With an angry roar he hurled it across the room as hard as he could, knocking down one of the wicker chairs.

"Your mom's pretty fond of those chairs. I don't think she'd be too pleased if she came down and found them 'vanquished'." Leo said wryly. Chris spun around, his eyes on fire. He looked as though he were wishing he hadn't thrown the toy because now he was out of ammunition.

Leo took a step towards his son, but then stopped, sensing that Chris was likely to recoil from him when he was this angry. "Listen, Chris, we're all really confused right now about what's happened. Emotions are running high, but this ISN'T your fault. You have to believe that. "

Chris didn't answer; he just continued to glare at Leo. "You know we're all really glad that you're here, that you're ok, right?" Chris didn't say anything, but his eyes flickered. Leo knew he'd found the problem. "Chris, it's not that we'd rather have the baby than you. That's not it at all. I wish there was a way that we could have you both. Oh, God, Chris. You can't believe that we don't want you, but this isn't your time, it's the baby's. We can't just sit back and take away his future, your future."

Leo might as well have been talking to a wall. Chris was completely caught up in his own anger; there was no coming back now. "Gee, Leo was that supposed to be one of your famous pep talks, because it was really below standard." He said sarcastically. Leo looked hurt and reached out to put a hand on Chris's shoulder.

Chris took a step back. He didn't want Leo near him right now. He needed to be alone. He needed to think, to figure all this out. He desperately needed to clear his head and figure out if what Leo was saying had really hurt him or if he actually agreed. _"The bridge_." He thought to himself as he started to orb. Once more, he was blocked by something very hard and painful and found himself sprawled on the floor of the living room with a very concerned Leo leaning over him.

"Chris, are you ok?" Leo asked.

"I'm fine!" Chris growled, ignoring Leo's proffered hand as he got to his feet. "My powers just don't seem to be working, or didn't the all knowing Elders tell you that when you were up there?" Chris felt bad even as he was speaking, but he couldn't stop himself. Someone had turned on the sarcasm and he couldn't turn it off.

The doorbell chimed. "Saved by the bell." Chris sneered as Leo headed over to the foyer. He was glad his back was now turned to Chris. He knew that Chris was upset and just lashing out, but it hurt being the one he lashed out at, and he always seemed to be the one Chris aimed his tantrums at.

"Sheila! Darryl!" Leo said with surprise when he opened the door. "What a pleasant surprise!" The girls, having heard the doorbell, spotted them as they came down the stairs. "It's so great to see you guys!" Paige exclaimed. They had all been sure that Darryl wouldn't be visiting them any time soon. He looked nervous and refused to meet their eyes. He was carrying a huge wrapped box with a big blue bow on top.

Sheila hugged them all. "Congratulations, Piper and Leo! You'll have to excuse Darryl; he hasn't come to his senses yet." She said as she sent him a dark look. "We came to visit the new baby! But I really am so sorry to hear about Chris. We're all going to miss him, he was…" She trailed off as she spotted Chris leaning against the doorjamb behind Leo's shoulder. "Chris?" She asked. "But Darryl said…"

"That I was dead? There seem to be some complications with that." He didn't look particularly pleased to see Darryl, who was staring wide eyed at him.

Piper came forward and took Sheila's arm. "Where are my manners today? Come in, sit down!" Sheila started to follow Piper into the living room, but Darryl didn't budge from the door.

"I'm sorry guys. I'm really happy for you and all, but I meant what I said before, I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore. Please, try to understand." He handed the big present to Phoebe and said, "Come on Sheila." as he turned and walked away.

Sheila gave them all an apologetic look. "Don't mind him, he'll come around. He really does love you guys. He's just being stubborn right now." And she followed her husband out of the house.

"Aw, Darryl's leaving? And I'm not even bleeding to death this time." Chris said bitterly and then he turned and walked away. Piper looked shocked and confused by his reaction and started to follow him, but Leo put a hand on her arm and shook his head. Chris needed some time alone to come to terms with all of this.


	6. Powerless

_Disclaimer: If I had a million dollars, (If I had a million dollars)… I probably wouldn't use it to buy Charmed, which, by the way, I don't own._

**Chapter 6**

Later that afternoon Piper was very distractedly trying to cook dinner. Phoebe and Paige were sitting at the table watching her with concern. Phoebe had tried to convince Piper to lie down and let her cook, but Piper seemed determined to do something to keep her hands busy. Cooking had always helped calm her before, but it didn't appear to be working today.

Leo orbed in and looked around. "Where's Chris?"

A loud clatter came from above them and Piper barely glanced up. "Your son is up in the attic. He's shut himself in there all afternoon trying to get his powers back." She said, chopping the vegetables a bit more vigorously than she had before. "I don't remember any of those spells involving things breaking in the past." She added sourly.

"Don't mind Piper, she's just a little upset right now because Chris won't talk to her, or any of us for that matter. He's still pretty upset and now he's obsessing over what's going on with his powers." Phoebe said.

Leo's face fell as he said "Then he's probably not going to react well to the news I've got. Oh well," he sighed, " better get this over with." Curious, the girls followed him out of the kitchen.

* * *

_"Powers of the witches rise,_

_Come to me across the skies,_

_Return my magic, give me back,_

_All my powers that I now lack."___

Nothing happened, of course. It was probably the twentieth time he'd recited that spell today. He'd tried every spell in the book that could possibly be altered to restore his powers. He'd even written a few new ones, but nothing worked. He was beginning to doubt that even his inherent ability to cast spells was working.

Chris picked up the first heavy thing he could find and threw it in frustration, breaking the chair in the attic for what must've been the millionth time. He didn't understand why Piper kept fixing it.

Everything that had happened was just too much to take in, it all hurt to much to deal with, so he'd chosen not to. Instead he was pouring all of his energy and concentration into a problem he thought he _could_ deal with, his missing powers. Only that plan was working out so well. He could start to orb, so he knew his powers were there, but he just couldn't seem to access them.

He was standing behind the book gripping the pedestal tightly with both hands trying to calm himself down when he noticed his family standing in the doorway staring at him. He took one look at Leo's face and his stomach dropped. "What is it?" He said quietly. He couldn't handle any more. He silently begged for Leo to say "nothing," but one thing he knew well was his father's "I've got bad news" look. He took a breath and steeled himself.

"I went to see the Elders to see if they knew what was going on with your powers. The good news is there's nothing wrong with them." Leo said, obviously hoping that Chris would see this as positive.

"Oh no?" Chris retorted, waving his fingers at the nearby broken chair, which remained completely still. If he'd thought there was a chance they would work, he would have been aiming at Leo. Good news! Was he crazy?

Leo took a deep breath. "When a witch is born, they often don't have the use of any of their powers yet. When they do, it's usually only one or two powers. The Elders are in charge of deciding when a witch has learned to master the powers that they have and are ready for the next step in their power progression."

"Yeah, I know all this already, Leo. Get to the point, will you?" He was impatiently drumming his fingers on the book. He hated when Leo beat around the bush to put off having to give bad news.

"Ok, well, it seems that when Wyatt was born with the use of so many of his powers, no one had been prepared for that. They were expecting him to grow into his powers just like every other witch. This caused quite a stir up there about whether a child could handle that many powers at once and led to the split that drove Gideon to… try and stop him."

"The Elder's disagree on Wyatt's powers. Old news. What does that have to do with me and my current state?"

"When they found out Piper was pregnant, they were scared that you would be born just as powerful as Wyatt. They were having enough trouble dealing with the implications of one extremely powerful child, they didn't want to add a second child to the arguments. So, they took steps."

"What kind of steps, exactly?" Chris asked warily.

Leo looked Chris straight in the eye. "While Piper was still pregnant, they blocked your powers. They decided that they would give them back to you slowly, when they were sure you were ready. That way they could avoid the trouble they've had when it comes to Wyatt."

"Wait, Wyatt's too powerful so I get _my_ powers taken away? How the hell does that work? If Wyatt's powers were the problem, why didn't they just take _his_ powers away?" "_This is so typical." _he thought_. "Wyatt does something wrong, and I end up getting punished for it, even before I'm born. How does Wyatt get away with everything?"_

"They can't take Wyatt's powers away. Once a witch has a power, the only way the Elders can take it away is by tribunal decision, and for that the witch has to have greatly misused their power." Phoebe reddened slightly. "With as much controversy as Wyatt's powers have brought, he hasn't misused them other than that one dragon incident and that wasn't really a misuse, it was a baby not understanding what he'd done. _You_ didn't do anything wrong, Chris. They blocked your powers as a precautionary measure because they couldn't do anything about Wyatt's powers."

"Ok," Chris seethed. "But, I'm obviously not a baby who doesn't know how to control his powers right now, am I? So go tell them to _unblock_ my powers!" The Elders were really pissing him off. They were supposed to be allies in the war against evil, but instead they seemed to dedicate all their time towards making life more difficult for the good guys.

"They- won't unblock them." Leo said nervously.

"Well, why the hell not?" Piper snapped. Up until now the girls had remained in the back, listening quietly, but they'd had it.

"If the Elders did this, they can damn well undo this!" Paige said.

"We have no idea how long this mess is going to take to sort out." Phoebe chimed in. "Chris may very well need his powers soon. We don't exactly live the quiet life here."

"Well, actually it's up to us when Chris gets his powers back." Leo said unhappily.

"Ok, so then what's the problem? Orb your butt back up there and tell them to unblock him." Piper lectured.

"It's not that easy. The Elders don't know we'll continue to try to bring the baby back and they said that they refuse to run the risk of unblocking Chris's powers and then having us rescue the baby, leaving the baby unblocked." Leo took a deep breath and looked into his wife's frustrated face. "They said they would give Chris back his powers if and when we come to the decision there's no way to bring the baby back. I tried to argue with them, but they've made up their minds." The family was stunned. The sisters exchanged confused looks. How could the Elders possibly ask them to make a decision like that?

Chris plopped down on the couch and grabbed a pillow. "This is just great." He muttered. "Those Elders are a real help."


	7. Epiphany

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Charmed. Or Drew Fuller, which is good cause that's just wrong. I do own my sanity, though! Nope, wait, I lost that years ago._

**Chapter 7**

Chris had been walking for hours, trying to get his head straight. He regretted the way he'd treated his family before storming out, the things he'd said, but he just couldn't take it. They'd kept coming to him, telling him how sorry they were and how much they cared about him, and all that kept repeating itself in the back of his mind was that they'd rather have the baby there.

He'd just wanted to get away from them, get some air, some space. He'd even tried orbing a few times out of sheer frustration, knowing it wouldn't work. All he'd ended up with was a major headache, which hadn't helped his mood much. He felt Leo trying to sense him once again and was glad he had remembered the words to the blocking spell. He wasn't ready to be found.

He came across a familiar scene: a green garden with a stone bench in the middle. Flowers bloomed everywhere around marble statues. He stared. He hadn't meant to come here, he'd just been walking aimlessly. This was probably the last place he wanted to be.

His mother used to take him here when he was little. It had been their special spot, their secret spot. It had been his favorite place in the world. After his mother had died, he had avoided this spot; it was too painful. And then he'd met Bianca and it had surprised him how much he'd wanted to share this with her, he had thought he'd never be able to share it with anybody ever again.

Chris sat down on the bench as realization hit him. If he stayed, Piper would never get to take her little boy here and make this spot so special. Bianca would never be included in its mystery. He finally understood all that he'd be denying the baby; it's childhood.

He realized that if he stayed, he could never go back to his future, changed or not. But his alternative was death; he still wouldn't be going back. He was never going to sit here with Bianca again, regardless of whether he saved her by changing the past. Chris took a deep breath, stood up, and headed home. It seemed that even in death his existence would always be about sacrifice.

* * *

The sisters and Leo were sitting uncomfortably around the living room. No one had gotten much sleep the night before and they were all on edge. Last night had been an unpleasant one after Leo had broken the news to Chris about his powers. Everyone had tried comforting Chris and he'd snapped and yelled at all of them in turn, until he finally turned and walked out the door, slamming it loudly behind him late in the evening. The noise had woken Wyatt up and it had taken quite a while to get him back to sleep.

"I swear, when that kid comes back through that door I'm going to kill him." Piper growled. "He was way out of line last night."

"What did you expect, Hon?" Paige asked. "The kid inherited Leo's tendency towards repression and your temper. Deadly combination. No wonder he's a walking time bomb."

"But where could he be?" Piper asked miserably. "He's defenseless, he can't orb, and he doesn't have any money. What if he's in a ditch somewhere?"

"Wow, now you sound like a mother." Paige sniped.

"I AM a mother!" Piper snapped back. "Leo, are you sure you can't..."

"For the hundredth time, no I can't sense him." Leo said tiredly. "He must know a spell to block me. Makes sense with how much he seems to hate me in the future. Don't worry so much, Piper. I'm sure he's fine. He can take care of himself, powers or no. He'll be back soon. Where can he go?"

As Leo said this, the door opened and Piper jumped up. "Chris! Thank God you're ok!" She cried as she ran over and embraced him. He smiled and returned her hug.

"Sorry, Mom. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Pretty creative way to kill a guy." Paige muttered to Phoebe, who slapped her arm.

"Where have you been all night?" Piper demanded.

Chris shrugged. "Just out. I needed some time to process. I'm really sorry for the way I behaved yesterday." He said sheepishly.

Leo put his hand on Chris's shoulder. "It's ok, Chris. We understand. It's been a very confusing couple of days. There's a lot to take in. I know this has been hardest on you."

"No." Chris shook his head. "It's been the hardest on the baby. Let's get him back."

Piper smiled as her eyes filled with tears. "You mean it?" She asked. "Thank you. Thank you for understanding." Chris smiled at Piper and took her hand, leading her up to the attic.

"Must have been some serious thinking time." Phoebe remarked. "That was a complete one-eighty."

* * *

Piper and Chris were sitting on the couch in the attic. Piper was holding a pencil and pad, sitting next to a pile of wadded up paper, and Chris was dejectedly flipping through the book.

Paige poked her head in the door. "How's it going?"

"Not good." Chris responded. We've tried every spell we can find in the book, and Piper's written a few new ones, but nothing's working. I think it's time to move on to potions."

Piper looked up, alarmed. "Are you sure, Chris? Potions are a little risky, what if we accidentally vanquish you? No, I think we should avoid the potions until we're absolutely sure."

Chris smiled. "I appreciate your concern, Mom, but I think we're out of other options." He stood up, replacing the book on its stand.

"Come on." Paige said, motioning them to follow her. "I'll help you; we'll make sure we don't mix anything that could even possibly be lethal." Piper sighed and got up to follow. "I still think this is a bad idea." She muttered.


	8. Enter the Demon

_Disclaimer:  Sing with me now!  To the tune of On Top of Old Smoky. "On top of Francisco, all covered with cheese.  I said "NO" to the rights for Charmed, and gave it back to the (crack) monkees."_

**Author's note:  Thanks everyone, for all of your reviews.  When I started writing this story, I didn't realize how addicted I was going to become to checking my mailbox for review alerts!  Anyway, good or bad, I really enjoy hearing what you guys think of the story.  And Stony Angel's Emmy nomination made my week!  So, I think it's about time for a B plot, don't you guys?**

**Chapter 8**

"Over here, lieutenant!"  Officer Remy called as Darryl stepped out of his car.  "Forensics is on their way.  I have no idea what could have done this to that girl."

"Thanks, Sean."  Darryl said. I'll take it from here.  He walked over to where the victim lay.  "Shit." He muttered, as he looked down at the girl's mangled body.  There was a large cauterized hole in her chest, surrounded by small scorch marks.  One glance and he could tell no human weapon could have done this. 

Darryl noticed the girl's hand was clutched around a piece of paper, and Darryl stooped down, looking over his shoulder to make sure Officer Remy wasn't watching.  Removing evidence from a crime scene was a federal offense, but forensics wasn't here yet and he was pretty sure Officer Remy wouldn't have noticed the bit of paper sticking out of her fist.  He carefully removed it and read what was written on there.  "Why is it always me?"  He asked himself, pocketing the paper as he stood up.

"Hey, Sean, let me borrow that Polaroid for a second, will you?"  He took one snapshot of the girl, which he also pocketed as he handed the camera back.  "Keep me informed."  He said and got back in his car, aiming it towards Prescott Street.

Paige was standing over a pot with a bored look on her face.  "Does this really need to be stirred constantly until it's done?" she whined.  "This is really dull."

"Yes, it does, so don't stop or you're going to mess it up!" Piper replied as she chopped bezoars root, measuring as she went.  "Damn, I don't think we're going to have enough of this!  Chris, do you think you could go pick up some more?  Paige can't leave the stirring and I don't trust you to chop this finely enough."

"Sure, Mom, but I'll have to borrow your car." He held out his hand for the keys.

Piper frowned at his outstretched hand.  "You do have a license, don't you?"

Chris scratched his head nervously.  "Well, no, I always orbed.  But I drove that car I 'borrowed' earlier this year, and it was easy enough."  Piper gave him a stern look and put the keys back in her pocket.

The doorbell rang then and Paige instinctively dropped the ladle, turning to answer it.  "NO!" Chris shouted, reaching for the ladle as the potion exploded with a very loud POOF!

Leo immediately orbed in.  "What's the matter?  I heard that all the way in Wyatt's room!"

"Nothing, we just wasted an hour on a potion Paige ruined." Piper said as Paige pouted at her.

"What are you guys up to in here?"  Phoebe asked as she came in, waving a hand in front of her face to clear the smoke.  "Look who came to see us!" she exclaimed as a very grave looking Darryl walked in behind her.

"I'm not staying."  He said.  "I just came to give you this.  I found it at a crime scene this morning." he said as he handed Piper the piece of paper he'd pocketed earlier.

"It's a vanquishing spell for something called an Erog demon." Piper said as she read it.  "Ever heard of it?" she asked Chris, handing him the paper.

"Yeah." he said.  "They're pretty vicious.  This spell would have worked though, if she could have finished it before getting killed."  He looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself.  "Wait, did you say you found it at a crime scene?"  Darryl nodded.  "That doesn't make any sense; an Erog demon wouldn't have left a body."

"Well, something did this to her." Darryl said as he pulled out the Polaroid and put it down on the counter.  "Now listen; I came, I gave you the spell and the picture; now I'm leaving.  I'm not helping you with this, and don't think this means you can call me for help.  You guys can go after this Erog demon alone."  He said, and he left.

They all stared after him.  "At least he came by with the stuff." Paige said hopefully.  "That's got to be a step in the right direction."  They all nodded except Chris, who was staring down at the picture white faced.  He felt his knees go a bit weak.

"You ok there, buddy?"  Leo asked, noticing how upset his son looked.

"It's this picture."  Chris said.  "How this girl died."

"Looks like it was some sort of energy ball." Phoebe said, glancing over his shoulder.

"Exactly."  Chris looked up.  "No offense, Paige, but I really hope one of Richard's family fell off the 'no magic' bandwagon."

"How can you say that?" Paige asked angrily.

"Because," Chris said grimly.  "I only know of one other person who can throw energy balls and would harm another witch."

"You wouldn't be talking about me, now, would you little brother?"

Everyone's head snapped around to the figure standing in the doorway of the kitchen.


	9. The Prodigal Son Returns

_Disclaimer: If I could turn back time, if I could find a way. I'd take back the death of the Pretty. He'd stay. Um, yeah, sorry. I don't own Charmed._

**Author's note: Sorry this chapter is so short, but its action packed! I also apologize ahead of time for any glaring continuity errors. I don't think Elders are supposed to be able to get hurt by things other than darklighter arrows. I know Leo bled in Spin City, but I choose to believe that that was THEIR continuity error and their attempt to show us just how badly Chris was beating him. Wait, the Charmed writers making a continuity error? What am I saying? NEVER!**

**Chapter 9**

Wyatt threw back his curly mane of blond hair, laughing at his family's shock. "What? No welcome home hugs? Isn't anybody glad to see me? The twice-blessed son has returned!" He was clearly enjoying taunting them.

"Wyatt?" Piper asked, uncertainly. "Is that really you? What's happened to you?" She could see that this man was far from the sweet little boy she had upstairs. Then she remembered that emotionless stare again and shivered. Maybe he wasn't as far off as she wanted to believe.

"You killed that girl, Wyatt." Chris said in a steely voice.

"Well, of course I did." He readily admitted.

"How could you?" Leo asked, still not believing that it could be true. "She was a witch!"

Wyatt looked at Chris. "Her death is your fault, you know."

"You're crazy; not that that's news. How is her death _my_ fault?" Chris shot back.

"Your coming back here to the past has become quite a nuisance. I didn't really care at first, I knew there was no way you could 'save' me, and it got you out of my hair for a while. But then demons started disappearing from the future, some of my best ones. I realized that you must be back here, killing off the demons you saw as closest to me thinking they had turned me. In killing all those demons before their time, you were saving all the witches they would have killed in the future leaving those witches to kill even more demons. Basically you're completely throwing my kingdom into chaos, but more importantly, you're pissing me off."

"Well yeah for me!" Chris said sardonically. "If that little speech was supposed to inspire guilt, you need to get a new speech writer."

Wyatt shot him a withering glare. "You know, Chris, one of these days that smart ass attitude is going to get you in trouble. Now, let me tell you the end of my story. That cute little witch in the picture was supposed to be neutralized by Gith a few months ago. Unfortunately, you killed Gith, leaving her free to try and vanquish my best Erog demon, which she would have succeeded in doing if I hadn't stopped her. If it weren't for you meddling with the timeline, I wouldn't have had to kill that girl, Chris."

Chris shook his head. "No, Wyatt, You're not going to get _me_ to feel guilty that _you_ killed an innocent."

Paige suddenly spoke up, interrupting the brothers' argument. "So, Wyatt, what are you _doing_ here? I mean, we already killed all those demons so coming to this time isn't going to bring them back."

Wyatt chuckled. "Oh, I don't care about them. There are always more where they came from. No, I came back for Chris, though I expected to find the baby. I planned on stopping you from coming back in the first place." Wyatt smiled. The rest of the family paled as they realized what he was implying. "But that's ok, this is better. I'll give you one last chance, Chris. Come back to the future with me and I'll let you live."

"Wyatt! He's your brother! You wouldn't kill him!" Leo cried. Sure, this grown Wyatt was acting like an evil asshole, but there had to be some good in him, or Chris wouldn't have thought he could save him. There was no way he would hurt his own family!

"Wanna bet, Dad?" Wyatt asked, an energy ball forming in his hand. Everyone panicked as he threw the ball directly at Chris's chest. Leo jumped and shoved him out of the way, taking the brunt of the blast in his arm, which started to bleed profusely as he fell unconscious to the floor.

"No! Dad!" Chris cried, as he fell under the weight of his father.

"Leo!" Piper yelled as she ran over to him. "Oh my God, look at this wound! We need to get him up to the other Elder's to be healed."

"Wyatt's too powerful." Chris explained, shooting his father an extremely worried look. "The other Elders won't be able to heal this."

"What's your answer, little brother? Are you coming with me or are you going to make yourself a martyr?"

Furious, Piper rounded on him. "He's not going anywhere with you, and you are not going to lay a finger on him!"

Wyatt chuckled. "Looks like you're still quite the Mama's boy. I guess some things never change." He reached out and grabbed Piper by the arm. "So, why don't you come and get her, Chris?" he said as he orbed out with a very shocked looking Piper.

"NO!" Chris screamed, as he ran towards their disappearing orbs. He tried once more in vain to orb after them and landed on the floor. "Damn it!" He cried, hitting the kitchen table with his fist.


	10. Family Ties

_Disclaimer: You know, I'm really sick of writing these. I'm running out of creative ways to say I don't own Charmed. I don't own the characters. All I own is this plot, which I'm pretty proud of if I do say so myself. OK, time for some evil Wyatt. Dun, dun, dun!_

**Chapter 10**

Chris scrambled over to where Leo lay. Phoebe was trying to wrap a dish towel around his arm to stop the bleeding. Chris shook his shoulder. "Dad! Wake up! Come on, we don't have time for this!"

Leo groggily opened his eyes. "Chris?" he asked foggily. "You called me dad." He smiled. Then he sat bolt upright as he remembered what had happened. "Where's Wyatt?" he asked. "I can't believe he did that!"

"He's gone, Dad. But we've got to hurry up and find him. He's got Mom." he said urgently, as he helped Leo to his feet and headed towards the attic. Leo tried to fight through his muddled confusion and follow his son. Wyatt had taken Piper? Why?

"Chris! Wait!" Paige called after him, but he ignored her. They all had to run to catch up with him.

"If you'll just stop for a minute, I'll sense for him." Leo said.

Chris shook his head. "It won't work, I'm sure he's gone underground. Normally I'd still be able to sense him, even in the underworld. He must not realize I don't have my powers." Even as Chris spoke, Leo tried to sense for Piper, but came up with nothing. Wyatt was still reading as in his room with the nanny.

"We'll find him, Chris. We've found people in the underworld before, regardless of whether my sensing power works down there. I found him down there once, I can do it again."

"No, Dad, you found baby Wyatt down there. He wanted to be found. This Wyatt knows the underworld better then anyone. If he doesn't want you to find him, you won't be able to. But he took Mom, which means he wants me to follow. There's got to be something in the book to give me back my sensing ability, even for a few minutes!" He frantically started flipping through, knowing it was hopeless. He'd tried all these spells the day before. Damn those Elders for blocking his powers!

"Chris, calm down!" Paige said. "I realize he took Piper, but please slow down. We'll figure this out. In the meantime, I seriously doubt he's going to hurt his own mother." Chris stopped flipping through the book but he didn't answer them.

"There's something you're not telling us. I think you'd better spill, mister." Phoebe said, crossing her arms.

"Come on, Chris, there's no way he would hurt her!" Leo said. "She's still…"

"Yes. He would." Chris interrupted in a gravelly voice. He took a deep breath. "In my past, Wyatt was the one who killed her. He's the one who vanquished the Charmed Ones. I'm pretty sure he killed all the Elders too."

A shocked silence greeted his revelation. "But why would he do that?" Phoebe asked.

"He did it to secure the loyalty of the factions in the underworld. And to show all the good witches that they'd better follow him or get out of his way. Who wouldn't take him seriously after he killed his own family, the most powerful witches in history?"

Then, slowly, Paige said, "But he's still a baby in this time. He's going to need Piper around, so he wouldn't kill her here. It would screw up his own past too much."

"I don't think he cares about screwing up his past. I think he only cares about getting back at me for trying to change it. He can be a bit vindictive."

Leo finally spoke up. "If he killed all of us, why didn't he kill you too? There doesn't seem to be any love lost between you." His eyes were watery and you could see the conflicting emotions on his face. Leo didn't know how to believe that his son had grown up to kill his own family.

"I don't know." Chris sighed. "He could have, easily. I'm not exactly a match for him power-wise. But I think he found my attempts to stop him- amusing. Now he wants me to come after him, to fight a battle I know I can't possibly win. He knows I take him seriously enough that I'm not going to leave Mom down there with him."

"Well, if you really think he will hurt Piper, then Leo, you'd better orb back up there and try to talk the Elders into unblocking Chris's powers. Even _they've_ got to see that this is a dire situation." Paige said, crossing her arms.

"I'm on it. They'll have to give your powers back, Chris. The Elders need the power of three." And with that Leo was gone. Chris resumed flipping through the book, looking for an alternative. Paige and Phoebe got out the scrying crystal, hoping to get lucky.

* * *

Piper looked around, confused, as the orbs cleared. She pulled away from Wyatt. "What are you doing? Where are we?"

Wyatt laughed. "Somewhere safe."

"Safe from who?" Piper asked skeptically.

"Safe from Dad and the other ever useless Elders. Someplace where we can have some special bonding time, just you and me." He sneered. "Don't you want to get to know your son a little bit better, Mom?"

Piper gave him a steely look. "No, I don't. I don't know what happened to you, Wyatt, but it sure as hell isn't going to happen this time around. I'm not going to let it."

"How sweet and noble. My Mommy thinks she can rescue me from the big bad wolf. She doesn't seem to realize that the wolf is the one that needs to be rescued from _me_. I suppose I should be flattered to see that no matter what I do to them, my family still seems to think they have the power to save me. It's easy to see where Chris gets it from."

"No matter what you do to them? What did you do, Wyatt?" Piper asked quietly.

"Didn't Chris tell you? No, I suppose he wouldn't. He wouldn't want to change the past more than he has to. Always does things the hard way, that one." Wyatt paused for dramatic effect, looking at his mother with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I murdered you all. Well, everyone except Chris, of course. After all, every King needs a court jester. He's quite amusing, with all his little plans to stop me or save me. I find it extremely entertaining to let him get just far enough to give him hope, and then quash that hope under my fist. I don't think he ever realized how much his little rebellion helped me out. Brought my enemies out into the open in a united front under one leader, a leader I knew I could keep under control. For all his fire and drive, he really is just a naïve kid."

"That naïve kid is going to be here any minute to stop you." Piper growled. "Along with the rest of his family."

Wyatt laughed as he reached out to play with a bit of Piper's hair. She recoiled, but he just pulled her closer. "I'm counting on it. Though I wouldn't hold your breath about the rest of the clan showing up. I've only invited Chris to this party. He went too far this time, and now I'm going to put a stop to his meddling."


	11. Decisions

_Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, but I do own Kern's soul. I bought it off the black market last week for fifty cents. It seems it's so used and worn, it's not worth much any more._

**Chapter 11**

Chris paced impatiently. He was fighting to resist the urge to break something besides the chair, still lying in a few pieces in the corner, when Leo orbed back in. Instantly all three were upon him, shooting off questions at the same time. Leo just stood there gravely, waiting for the clamor to die down before speaking. His silence made the girls more worried and Chris turned away, angry. He already knew what Leo was going to say.

"The Elders wouldn't give Chris his powers back. They say the choice remains the same." He said, his voice eerily void of emotion.

"How can they do that? Did you explain what happened to them?" Phoebe yelled.

"They are fully aware of the situation. They used it as their justification. Wyatt is here and he's virtually unstoppable. They said they can't risk baby Chris growing up like that too, even at the cost of the power of three."

"Are you serious? But-" Paige started, but was interrupted by Chris, unable to hold in his anger any longer.

"What the hell's the matter with those morons?" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Don't they know they're signing their own death warrant? Can't they see past their own egos long enough to realize they're going to need the power of three? They can't just sacrifice Piper after all you guys have done for them! Leo, how could you let them just turn their backs on her?!"

"The Elders wouldn't reconsider." Leo continued, as if he hadn't heard a word of Chris's outburst. "So, I made the call."

"I can't believe this!" Chris growled. "Whatever happens now that Wyatt is here, it's on their heads. They can- wait. Did you just say you made the call?" Leo nodded, tears coming to his eyes. "What call did you…"

But Chris never got to finish his sentence. His back arched involuntarily and his mouth opened in a silent yell. A white light started emanating from within his chest and his feet slowly left the ground. Quickly the light became so intense that the girls and Leo had to shield their eyes and turn their backs to him. It was like looking at the sun from two feet away.

* * *

Piper glared at the monster her son had somehow become. No, not her son. She refused to think of him that way. She couldn't believe that she could raise a man so horrible that he killed his own family. "Chris and Leo _will_ find you." she said, "And when they do you're going to wish you'd never come back to the past and threatened your brother."

Wyatt smirked. "_Dad_ will never find us here. In case you hadn't noticed, we're in the underworld in a cave with no entrances. No one's finding us or getting in or out of here unless I want them to. Dad's just going to have to sit this one out, not that he ever had a real problem with that. No, like I said, Chris is the only one invited to this family reunion. I wonder what's taking him so long. I would have thought he'd be right behind us. I can't imagine he would willingly leave you in my hands any longer than he had to."

Piper paled as she realized this was a trap for Chris. But thankfully it was a trap he couldn't fall into. Without his powers, there was no way he could sense Wyatt and orb here. The thought gave her strength and she briefly smiled to herself.

Wyatt noticed her reaction and was instantly suspicious. "What are you smiling about, Mother? You know why Chris hasn't come yet, don't you?" Piper didn't answer; she just leveled her gaze at him. It was a look that had terrified many a demon in the past. Wyatt just ignored it.

He paced back and forth along the cave, deep in thought. Piper caught her breath. God, he looked like Chris when he did that!

"Why wouldn't Chris be here already?" he muttered to himself. "The only reason he would be waiting is if Leo talked him into it, to come up with a game plan. For Leo to have the chance to do that, Chris would have had to stick around after I orbed out with Piper. But Chris wouldn't have waited. He's impulsive, he would have orbed out as soon as he sensed where I was." Wyatt stopped and his eyes widened. He turned to Piper. "Chris doesn't have his powers." He said.

Piper flushed, scared that Wyatt might decide to go back to the manor to attack Chris while he was defenseless.

Wyatt threw back his head and laughed. "Of course! He's here, the baby's not. He somehow switched places with him and now he's blocked. I'll have to thank the Elders for that once more before I kill them again." He turned towards Piper, a hard glint in his eye. "Powerless or no, Chris will figure out a way to get here. He's not going to let me kill you again. And when he does, he's going to try and bluff his way through this situation. He was always so skilled at that." Wyatt smiled. "But not this time. He's not going to get the chance."

Piper sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs. This had to be her worst nightmare. She had never really wanted to believe how bad Chris's past must have been, but now she had no choice. She finally understood how Chris had come to the conclusion that the only way to save Wyatt was in the past, that he was a hopeless case in Chris's future. She knew she was about to witness her sons fight each other to the death. Her family was going to be turned on its head unless she could get out of here and stop it.


	12. Power Boost

_Disclaimer: I checked this morning and I still don't own Charmed or any of its characters._

**Author's note: Sorry this chapter a bit short, but the next one is the big finale and the chapter will be extra long, so you'll just have to be patient!**

**Chapter 12**

The light slowly faded and Chris found himself standing once again on the ground. Paige and Phoebe were studying him intently. Leo, however, looked miserable and refused to make eye contact with his son.

"Dad," Chris said quietly. Leo flinched at the word, and tears came to Chris's eyes. "What did you do?"

Leo was hoarse. "He has her. You seemed to think he was going to kill her. We can't find him without your powers. I couldn't lose her. I just couldn't. Not like this."

Chris felt like he had been slapped in the face. His father had just given up the baby, _him_, to save his mother. Leo had abandoned him again. He knew should feel hurt and angry that his father, who he had finally come to believe was different than the man he had grown up with, would turn his back on his newborn child in order to recover his wife. Chris reached for the familiar white hot blaze of rage that had always provided him comfort before when he was confused or didn't know how to accept something, but somehow, he just couldn't find it in himself to be angry with Leo. He knew in his heart he would have done the same to save Piper.

"Dad, it's ok. I'll bring her back to you." He said, pulling his father into an unexpected embrace. "I know you will, son." He said, sobbing into Chris's shoulder.

After a few minutes of shocked silence, broken only by Leo's muffled sobs, Phoebe spoke up. "So, I hate to break up your father son bonding moment here, but does that mean that you have your powers back, Chris?" she asked.

"How do you feel? That was some intense light you were putting out." Paige said.

"Actually… I feel great. Like I've been supercharged or something." He paused, concentrating. "And I can sense Wyatt now." He said, and started to orb out.

"Wait!" Leo called, and Chris rematerialized. "You should really test your powers first; make sure they're all back to normal before you go in there. And don't think you're leaving us behind."

Chris gave Leo a sheepish look. "Yeah, I guess you're right. He's out for blood this time, so I better make sure I can properly defend myself. As for you coming with me… well, we can try, but he's probably going to block you. But this is something I've really got to do on my own. This is my fight." Chris gave his father a determined look, and hoped he would understand. Leo nodded glumly. He wanted to go charging in with him, but he knew Chris was right.

"So test your powers, already!" Paige exclaimed, pointing to the already broken chair.

Chris took a deep breath and waved his fingers at the chair. Nothing happened. "Damn it!" he cried in frustration. "Dad, why aren't my powers fully working?" He turned to his father and his stomach dropped.

Leo, Paige and Phoebe were standing there like statues. How'd that happen? He'd never had the power to freeze before, and in any case, good witches didn't freeze! That's when he noticed the silence. It was absolute. The clock in the corner wasn't ticking, the birds outside had stopped their incessant chirping. He held his watch up to his ear. Nothing. He hadn't frozen the room, he'd frozen time itself. "Holy shit." he whispered.

He closed his eyes, concentrating, and that's when he felt it coursing through him. Power. A lot of power. He felt strong, he felt… whole. It was like some part of him he never knew had been missing had been restored.

He moved over to Paige and studied her frozen form. He waved his hand in front of her face and jumped as the room came back to life and sound came rushing back in.

"So how come it didn't move- Hey! How did you get over here? I didn't see you orb." she said as she noticed Chris right beside her.

"I didn't." he said. "I tried to move the chair and I apparently froze you guys instead. Well, actually, I seem to have frozen time."

"So, you got a new power when your old ones were restored?" Phoebe asked.

"I think I got a lot of new powers." Chris answered, the dazed look on his face transforming into one filled with wonder at this new gift. "Look." he said. He reached out and put his hand over Leo's still bleeding arm. It glowed that familiar warm yellow light, and instantly his wound was healed.

"Even the Elders couldn't heal that!" Leo exclaimed. "And I've never seen a healing work so fast!" He was looking at his son in shock. "How did you get so many new powers at once?"

"I have no idea." He said, a cautious smile breaking out on his face. "But Wyatt won't be expecting me to have any more than my orbing and TK. I'll have the element of surprise. I think I just may be able to beat him." And with that he orbed out.

"Talk about your sibling rivalry." Paige commented. "And Piper's got front row seats!"


	13. Sibling Rivalry

_Disclaimer: Don't own charmed. Guess what I DO own? Chris's new powers! They are mine! Because the stupid writers of the show never thought to give them to him_

**Author's Note: I need to SERIOUSLY thank NiceHobbitses and Stony Angel for beta-ing this chapter. I had trouble polishing it for some reason and their help made it 100 times better! NiceHobbitses, you should be doing this professionally. I've had writing professors who weren't as helpful as you. So, I'm sorry to make you guys wait so long, but here's the big finale (though there is an epilogue coming)! Maybe you guys will forgive me since this chapter is twice as long as any of the other ones?**

**Chapter 13**

Piper was sitting on the ground, staring at her hands, the wall, at anything but Wyatt. She couldn't bare seeing what he had become. She was so conflicted. This man, no matter how evil he had become, was her son. She was supposed to love him unconditionally, but all she could feel for him was hate for what he was doing, for what he was obviously planning on doing to Chris. What did that say about her as a mother? Why couldn't she make herself stand up and open her arms to this man, saying, "Son, I forgive you. Come home with me, and we'll work this all out." She found she had a new respect for her youngest son. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't sure she would have been willing to sacrifice everything to come back and save the man standing before her now.

His mother's blatant rejection of him angered Wyatt. He was having a very hard time keeping his temper in check. What right did she have to judge him? To look at him in that cold stare and pretend he wasn't actually her son? It angered him that he cared what this woman thought. He thought he'd gotten past that back when he was young enough to figure out that she would always favor Chris, and he would always be an afterthought. That he cared now was ridiculous. This was one of his demons he had slain long ago, literally. He had to keep telling himself that he needed her alive and unharmed until Chris got here. "Come on, Chris. Where the hell are you?" Wyatt growled impatiently.

"I'm right here, Wy. Have you been waiting long," came a voice from behind him.

Wyatt stood, spinning around with a malicious grin on his face. "Yes, in fact. This is long overdue," he said, throwing an energy ball at Chris.

Chris didn't even attempt to block it or get out of the way. Piper jumped up with a scream as the energy ball crashed into Chris and then gasped as it went right through him, crashing into the wall.

"You know, most guys would greet their brother with a hug," said Chris's voice from the other side of the cave.

Wyatt spun again. "What the hell?" he said, as he lifted his arm to telekinetically choke his brother. Chris smiled as Wyatt's attempt had no effect.

"Care to try again? Third time's a charm."

Wyatt spun to face the third voice and was immediately thrown across the room. His face was riddled with confusion. "How did you . . . But you don't have your powers! And even if you did, you never developed your astral projection. How could you have this much control over it?"

All three Chrises had been walking towards him but now faltered. "Wait," said one of them. "You knew astral projection was supposed to be one of my powers?"

"Of course I knew." Wyatt sneered. "I'm the one that stopped you from developing it, along with all your other powers."

His concentration shattered, the two extra Chrises disappeared. "No," Chris said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It was the Elders."

"At first," Wyatt agreed. "But Mom and Dad wouldn't stand for it. They kept arguing with the Elders that they were putting you in danger by blocking your powers when there were demons attacking the house all the time. Finally, Mom, Dad, Phoebe, and Paige all threatened to quit, to bind everyone's powers, including mine, so that the manor would fall off the demonic radar." Wyatt looked at him coldly. "You almost cost me my magic, my destiny."

He paused, sneering, "The Elders panicked and finally came to a compromise. They unblocked your orbing, telekinesis, and sensing so you could defend yourself and get away."

Wyatt stood up and collected himself, taking control of the situation once more. "After they granted you a few of your powers, things went back to normal for a while. As we were growing up, though, I could tell that you were firmly rooted in your sense of right and wrong. That, I assure you, was a problem I never shared. I knew that soon the Elders would give you the rest of your powers, trusting that you wouldn't misuse them. I also knew that when they did, you'd be a match for me. I really didn't need the competition, so I eliminated it. I took over the block and made it a bit more… permanent. I did remember to thank the Elders for the idea before I killed them all."

"How could you do that to your own brother?" Piper asked quietly. She already knew the answer, but needed to hear it from Wyatt.

"Look at him. With his powers unblocked we're pretty evenly set. It was a risk I couldn't take. But it doesn't matter. It just means it's time to break out the big guns," Wyatt said, smiling broadly. He held out his hand. "Excalibur!" he called.

Wyatt laughed at the look of fear on his brother's face as the sword started to coalesce through a mist of blue orbs, when suddenly the still forming sword flew from his hand over to where Chris's hung limply by his side.

Chris gasped in shock as he instinctively closed his hand over the gleaming hilt of the now fully formed Excalibur. He held the sword up in surprise, when a warm gust of wind ripped through the entry-less cave, knocking Wyatt and Piper against the wall as it ruffled Chris's hair. The sword began to glow.

"What happened?" Piper asked, bewildered. "How did you do that, Chris? I thought the sword was supposed to be Wyatt's!" She was gazing at the sword in her son's hands.

"NO!!!!" Wyatt screamed in outrage, rushing Chris, who easily fended him off. Wyatt started throwing energy balls at Chris as fast and as hard as he could. "That's my sword, you bastard!"

"Excalibur was never meant to be yours, Wyatt," Chris said, finally understanding. He was blocking Wyatt's energy balls with the sword, as if by reflex. He wasn't even paying attention to Wyatt's attack; he was now looking at his mother.

"But Wyatt has already used the sword. It came when he called it, both when it first came into his possession and just now," Piper said, confused. "He would never have been able to do that if it was meant for you"

"It makes sense, Mom. Wyatt took the sword from Morduant and then from me the same way Morduant took the sword from you: by sheer force of power." He paused, trying to put the last missing piece of the puzzle in place. "I think the sword has a reciprocal power relationship with its holder. The more powerful the holder is, the more powerful the sword is and vice versa. By keeping me weak, Wyatt had no trouble controlling the sword. Now I'm finally strong enough to take it back."

"Well, I don't need the sword to destroy you! I don't even need to touch you!" Wyatt roared, enraged that his brother was fending off his attacks without paying the slightest bit of attention to him. Chris turned to him just in time to see him hurl a large energy ball directly at Piper. Chris was caught completely off guard.

"NO!!!" he screamed and threw out his hand as if to catch the energy ball. In an instant, everything froze. Chris watched wide eyed as Wyatt and his mother dissolved into the familiar blue orbs and reappeared in opposite positions. As soon as they did, time resumed.

Chris stared at his hand, unsure of what he had just done. Piper looked around, trying to get her bearings. Wyatt opened his mouth to sneer something at Chris, but left it open as his eyes widened, taking in the sight of his own energy ball flying towards him.

He tried to dissipate it, but he wasn't fast enough. The energy ball hit him full force in the chest, ripping a hole clean through. Piper screamed, and Chris ran to his brother's side, tears streaming down his face.

"Oh my God, Wyatt! What did I do? I'm so sorry. I didn't mean… Wyatt? Can you hear me?" He tried desperately to heal the wound, knowing it was already too late. Wyatt just stared up at him blankly. His head rolled back as he slowly started to fade away.

Chris just sat there, staring at the spot where his brother had been, crying. "This is not how it was supposed to end." He sobbed. "I was supposed to save him, not kill him."

Piper came up behind Chris, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. They sat there in each other's arms, rocking silently for what felt like a lifetime, tears freely streaming down their faces.

Finally Piper spoke up. "It's okay, Chris. You didn't kill him, not really. Even in the little while that I was alone here with him, I could see it. His heart seems to have died a long time ago. Now that you're here, you can make sure it doesn't die again."

Chris melted into his mother's embrace, wanting with all his heart to believe what she was telling him.

"Come on, Honey. Let's go home," she said, stepping back and holding out her hand to him. Chris waved his hand over towards Excalibur, sending it off in a shower of orbs. Then he stood up, took a deep breath and smiled at his mother.

"Yes, please. Let's go home," Chris replied, slowly. His chest ached as he realized he finally had a home to go to. He pulled his mother into a hug as he orbed them out of the cave.

* * *

Phoebe was leaning against the large rock now sitting in the attic. The girls and Leo were trying to figure out why it had suddenly reappeared- without Excalibur.

"Wyatt must have called the sword," Leo said.

"Do you think he used it… on Chris?" Paige asked nervously. Wyatt was extremely powerful on his own. Was Chris really that much more powerful now that Wyatt had felt he needed the sword to defeat him? And was there any way Chris could have survived a battle like that?

"Aaah!" Phoebe jumped up as the sword materialized in the stone inches from where she was leaning. "That was close," she said.

Paige's eyes widened. "Does that mean…"

"The battle's over? Yeah, it does." Chris finished for her.

There were audible sighs of relief from the girls. Leo was on top of Chris and Piper in an instant, smothering them in an extremely tight group hug. "Thank God!" he breathed into Piper's hair, trying uselessly to hold back the tears that were already streaming down his face.

"Um... Dad… Air!" Chris gasped, smiling despite himself at his father's fierce show of affection. "Some of us _do_ still need to breathe," he joked, as Leo loosened his grip, though only slightly. Soon Paige and Phoebe had joined in on the group hug and everyone was laughing with relief.

As the scene broke up, and Paige and Phoebe started fawning over Chris, Piper took Leo's hands in her own and looked up into his face. He forced himself to meet her gaze. "I'm so sorry, Piper. I had to make the call. I wanted to save the baby, too, but I just couldn't let him…"

Piper put her finger against his lips to silence him. "It's alright, Leo. I know you had to do it. I forgive you. More importantly, I think Chris forgives you." She looked over at her fully grown son, trying to fend off his over-attentive aunts. He glanced up at his parents, giving them a pleading look. Piper and Leo chuckled at Chris's predicament. Chris sighed and turned back to his aunts' stream of questions, knowing his parents weren't going to bail him out of this one.

Piper turned back to Leo. "We may not be able to give him a better childhood, but we can at least give him the satisfaction of knowing he's accomplished what he came back here and died to do."

Piper took a deep breath before continuing on. "I think we should bind Wyatt's powers until he's old enough to take responsibility for them." She looked into Leo's face, trying to judge his reaction before continuing on. "And I think we should let Chris be his whitelighter. He'll be able to protect Wyatt from any demon attack while his powers are bound."

"I still don't like the idea of binding Wyatt's powers, but after what we just saw…" Leo nodded slowly. "I agree. It needs to be done."

Leo and Piper looked over at Chris. He was unsuccessfully trying to disentangle himself from Phoebe, who had him in a vice like grip and was kissing him repeatedly on the cheek. Paige stood next to Phoebe saying, "Will you let him go, already? You're happy he's here. He gets it!"

Chris gave his parents an even more desperate pleading look and mouthed "SAVE ME!" The couple laughed. Piper came over and took Chris's hand, pulling him away from Phoebe. "This has been a big day for all of us. I think we've earned a little fun time. Let's all go out to celebrate. We've got the nanny for the whole evening. Anybody up for sushi?"


	14. Epilogue

_Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Charmed._

**Author's note: I'm sure that some of you probably aren't happy that I didn't bring back the baby or that Wyatt was killed, but I did warn everyone in the beginning that the whole point of this story was to get Big Chris back for good and avoid double the baby hi-jinx next season. I'm sorry, but I'm just not a big fan of completely happy endings. However, I realize that some people like to have more happy closure, so I'm writing this Epilogue. This is for you, Stony Angel! You're the best! To try and answer people's questions about the baby- he is gone. His spirit was displaced by the ghost of big Chris, and even if he's savable, it's too late cause Leo made the decision to unblock big Chris and keep him forever. Chris kinda created a loop in the time travel paradox, so now he's here, has his memories of his past, only they never happened and never will happen because he doesn't actually get a childhood. I hope that made some sense, but I'm guessing not.**

**Epilogue**

"Are you sure you should be doing this, Chris?" Piper asked, as she finished drawing the triquetra on the wall. "You're part of this timeline now, you probably shouldn't know too much about the future."

"I know, Mom, but I have to know if I saved him. I have to make sure that the baby's sacrifice wasn't for nothing. Anyway, I'm sure that if I'm around in the future, I'll have this all set up so I don't get myself into any trouble." He grinned at his mother.

"With two of you, there's bound to be trouble regardless." Piper joked, putting down the chalk. "OK, it's done."

_"Hear these words, hear the rhyme,  
heed the hope within my mind,  
send me forward to where I'll find,  
what I wish in place and time."_

Chris hoped that his slight tweaking of his original spell would work. That hope was rewarded when the triquetra started to glow.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Piper asked.

"No, you'd better not." Chris frowned. "The more people we have traveling back and forth in time, the more complicated things become. I'll be back soon!" He gave her a hug and walked through the portal.

* * *

Chris blinked as he walked through the other side of the glowing tunnel and ended up in the attic directly in front of an older version of himself. His hair was cropped shorter and his face was a bit more angular, like it had lost the last of its baby fat. His counterpart's eyes were showing the beginning of some laugh lines, which surprised him. Smiling just wasn't something that he did that often, but there was his future self grinning widely at him.

"About time you got here!" he said. "I've been waiting up here for hours! Oh well, guess it's my own fault for not remembering what time I made the trip. Come on." he said, taking a hold of a very shocked Chris's shoulder and orbing him downstairs.

The living room looked almost exactly the same. It seemed no number of demon attacks would get the best of that furniture. Chris noticed a dark haired little girl peeking out at him from the kitchen with wide, bright green eyes. He waved at her awkwardly, as an older woman who couldn't be anybody but the little girl's mother walked by, noticed him with a shocked look, and quickly pulled the little girl away from the door, disappearing into the kitchen.

"Who are they?" He asked his older self.

The older Chris laughed. "I can't tell you. You're from the past now, I can't let you know too much about the future." He said, giving him a wink. "I'm sure that's something you can understand." Chris nodded and laughed. He understood all too well.

"Chris! You're here!" he heard Piper cry from the foyer. He turned in surprise. Piper was here? Alive? _"Of course she is." _he reminded himself. They all would be if he had managed to save Wyatt. Piper had a grey streak down the side of her hair and some more grey peeking up from the roots, but it only served to accentuate her beauty, making her seem almost regal. She had developed some laugh lines that looked just like the ones his older self were sporting, but otherwise his mother was unchanged. She ran over and gave him a hug. "I'm so proud of you!" she whispered into his ear.

Chris grinned and glanced over her shoulder to notice Leo standing in the doorway smiling at them. He blinked in surprise as he saw that Leo looked exactly the same. _"You dimwit."_ He thought_. "He's an elder who doesn't age. Of course he looks exactly the same."_

"Hey, Dad!" he said cheerfully, pulling away from his mom and walking over to give his dad a hug.

"So you've come to check up on Wyatt, huh?" Leo asked. "I think you'll be happy with what you find." He grinned and turned towards the stairs. "HEY WY! SOMEONE'S HERE TO SEE YOU!" he shouted.

"COMING, DAD!" Chris could hear Wyatt shout in return.

"Leo! How many times have I told you guys not to shout through the house! All these magical powers, can't you find a quieter way to communicate when you're on different floors?" Piper asked, exasperated.

Chris grinned. "Glad I didn't change _too_ much about the future." He joked.

Wyatt came running noisily down the stairs. "Chris, is that you?" he asked, peering at the younger Chris.

"Sure is!" The older Chris replied. "That's the age I should be now."

"It's great to see my younger brother actually looking younger than me for once!" Wyatt laughed, pulling him into a bear hug. Chris reflexively stiffened and tried to push him away. When Wyatt didn't let go, he found himself clinging to his older brother, crying into his shoulder. He felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his chest. It had worked! This Wyatt was the man he'd always hoped his older brother could be.

"Hey, bro!" Wyatt said, pulling back. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I hear I did enough of that when you were younger." He said, obviously upset with himself.

"It's OK, Wy. I'm just so happy to see you like this." Chris said, smiling. He pulled his brother into another hug.

"Sorry, mini-me," the older Chris said, putting his arm around his younger self's shoulders. "but this is all we can safely let you see, I'm afraid. It's time for you to head back home."

Piper gave him one last hug and kissed his cheek. "Have a safe trip back, honey!"

"Hey, Chris!" Wyatt called, as they started to orb back to the attic. The Chrises rematerialized to see what Wyatt wanted. "Thanks, bro. Really. I owe you so much." Wyatt said, his eyes moist.

Chris smiled. "Don't mention it. Least I could do for my big brother." And with that they were gone.

Chris had just activated the portal and turned to step through, when the older Chris grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, I don't want you to think what you saw here today means you can just sit back and relax, enjoy the ride. You've got some hard stuff ahead of you. Until his powers are unbound, protecting Wyatt will be a full time job."

Chris nodded gravely. "I know, the work's not done yet. But it's got a good start and now a good outlook for the future."

His older self nodded and then grinned. "But don't forget to loosen up every once in a while and have some fun. You've got your whole family to help you now; you don't need to run yourself into the ground with the weight of the world anymore. Now go back there and live your life. Oh! And when Wyatt asks you if he can borrow your car for a hot date on his sixteenth birthday, don't let him." He threw in. "Man, I loved that car." he said under his breath.

Chris laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." he said. "I guess that means I eventually go get myself a license."

He waved to his older self and walked back to the portal. He could see his family waiting on the other side for him with eager looks on their faces. Grinning broadly and feeling lighter than he had felt in years, he stepped through.

* * *

**And thus endeth my first ever fanfic, though with how much fun I had writing it, it probably won't be my last.**


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